1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resilient mount for a cleaner blade, as a part of a spinning or twister ring holder of a textile yarn spinning or twister machine. The mount is provided to receive a traveler cleaner and hold it in alignment relative the rotational course of travel of a spinning or twisting ring traveler about a spinning or twisting ring during the spinning or twisting of yarn so as to remove from said traveler any foreign accumulations or accretions.
2. The Prior Art
It is generally well known in the art to provide a spinning or twisting ring assembly with a traveler cleaner for the purpose of removing lint and other foreign matter from the traveler during the process of spinning or twisting yarn. The cleaner has a blade portion which is positioned in a precisely spaced away relation to the course of rotational travel of the ring traveler about the spinning or twister ring, so as to effect removal of said foreign matter accumulated. Failure to remove the build up of foreign matter, in time, results in the production of poor quality yarn and/or its breaking. The alignment requirements are to have the confronting edge of the blade spaced away from the course of rotation of the traveler sufficiently so that the blade does not intercept such course and stop the traveler, but not so far away from said course that the blade does not intercept foreign matter accreted upon the traveler. If the blade does intercept the course of traveler rotation, yarn breakage occurs; however, if the blade does not intercept the foreign matter, the traveler is not cleaned. The aforesaid alignment prescribes that the cleaner be rigidly mounted, and also that such mounting be made adjustable so that the cleaner may be moved towards or away from the upper flange of the spinning or twister ring to accommodate for changes in the size of traveler as may occur when one wishes to change the size of yarn to be processed. A typical ring, ring holder and traveler cleaner assemblage is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,529.
Most ring holders are of metal, to provide structural rigidity, and cleaners are mounted thereon using a screw as shown in aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,529. However, in recent times, with the recognition that harmful noise generated by the moving contact of the traveler against the upper flange of the ring may be reduced by making the ring holder or a transverse portion thereof of a vibration damping material, disclosures of such ring holders have been made, for example in British Pat. No. 871,889 and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,454,707 and 3,093,957. However, disclosure of a suitable mounting for a traveler cleaner was singularly absent from such constructions.
In actual mill operations, several problems have been encountered respecting the mounting of traveler cleaners on ring holders. Among these, the more common problem of the cleaner being inadvertently struck is perhaps the most significant. This may occur when a bobbin is doffed or donned off or onto a spindle. If the force with which the cleaner blade is struck is great enough, the blade may be bent toward or away from the traveler course. Thus, the bent blade then may either intersect the traveler course to stop the rotation of the traveler and break the yarn, or may be moved away from the traveler course enough so as not to intercept accretions of foreign matter on the traveler, causing, in time, the production of poor quality yarn and yarn breakage. If, on the other hand, the cleaner is not rigidly fixed to the holder, the striking force may move the blade out of its proper alignment relative the traveler course without bending it, but still produce the undesirable results of stopping the traveler or failure to clean it. Either way, yarn breakage results, and the yarn processing station is out of production until a bent cleaner can be replaced and/or the cleaner be realigned properly. Unfortunately, the problems of a bent cleaner blade or is dislodgement from proper alignment are not immediately recognized by mill operators, and then only after some interval during which the yarn is broken and/or poor quality yarn is produced that remedial action is taken. Beyond this, with respect to metal ring holders, repeated shocks by the blade being struck a number of times tend to inflict wear upon the screw thread of the holder making it, in time, impossible to rigidly secure the cleaner thereonto.
It is to the assuage of the aforesaid problem and difficulties that the present invention is directed.
With respect to rings being formed entirely or in part of a vibration damping material, such as rubber, to the advent of the present invention no satisfactory means of securing a cleaner to such material was known, despite repeated attempts, including the use of self-threading screws. When the latter were used, it was found that either the screw could not be held by the material in a rigid manner, or that in time the screw when subjected to the usual vibration of the yarn processing machine would work itself loose and with it the cleaner. Further, because of the nature of vibration damping material, such as its resilient properties, it was most difficult to properly align a cleaner properly, since in the process of mounting the cleaner on the material the frictional characteristics of the material caused the cleaner to turn when the last tightening to firmly secure the cleaner was made. Thus, to this writing, no prior art ring holders formed at least in part of a vibration damping material have been successfully used in commercial production of yarn.
The present invention is further directed to use with ring holders formed at least in part of a vibration damping material, to remedy the want of such a holder in commercial production of yarn.